At a Crossing

—A Mahou Shoujou Lyrical Nanoha FanFiction

By NightCracker Artie

(Le Disclaimer)

This is an unofficial work of fan-made fiction. All elements in this story are based ONLY on the original franchise Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, a work of fiction protected by full rights and benefited with profit privileges which this unofficial work hereby disclaims. Any resemblance to places, events, organizations or people—living or dead—or ANY OTHER works is coincidental.

This fiction is not meant to impair the original franchise, its concept, or the people that are involved in its making; real or fictional.

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

(Rated K+)

Literary; Romance; Friendship; Angst; Cogitation

[NonBeta]

Notes

The following instances, implied or explicitly described, are involved in this story. Should you be offended that the borrowed characters play in the roles of these scenes, please refrain from reading any further.

※ Out of Character (mild). As some characters in the Nanoha franchise (manga and anime) act out this story as inclined to character depth and stability I assume.

※ Inferential. The story involves events presumed to be true through cogitation of thoughts and feelings of the characters, especially Yuuno Scrya.

The author will consider all critics or reviews that implore any change in any scene or any passage that affects the progression of the story. It is, however, in the author's writing style and privilege to keep to the originality of this plot. The author wishes to learn from constructive comments that will help in writing better fanfics in the future.

…

At A Crossing

NightCracker

[Jun 28 Revision]

072, Summer

When place and timing turns out perfectly as though practiced, it must be the act of destiny that binds distant worlds. Yuuno Scrya thought of this as he watched a prenuptial shooting in the butte park overlooking the coast of Uminari. The couple under the shade of lush trees from the tender warmth of summer sunset is the masterful piece of a happy ending to last a lifetime. It's the epitome of all great tales of love.

Those two were friends since they were kids. Now, they're on their tracks for a lifetime of togetherness: a simplistic love story that bloomed slowly but surely. They showed how differences aren't distance but bridges; how their mere acceptance of their individualities becomes the root of their strong bond. Here comes their future, splashing colors to the line arts of their shared past; their present expressing the world in their eyes by actions than words, bringing about a tale out of the books of the extraordinaire.

They're a simple definition of an extravagantly weaved destiny.

"Wedding, huh…?" Sitting beside Yuuno, Takamachi Nanoha muttered. "Makes you think about the future, too, doesn't it?"

Yuuno looked out to the horizon, framed by the scenic dusk clouds dotted by hovering shadows of gulls. The future – it really makes an impression to him: so vast, so far, so distant and scary.

Nanoha… probably doesn't have any worries for her future now. He thought.

Indeed, she has changed quite a lot since their meeting. Looking back to when this girl brought him to safety from amidst the barren forest, Yuuno could only remember how she was easily flustered. Nanoha has gone through the hurdles that made her now: a responsible instructor, a fine Bureau employee, a great friend, and a beautiful young maiden. Surely, her future won't be any trouble – may it be career or settlement.

"Have you ever thoughts of it for the future?" Nanoha broke the silence once more. Yuuno stared at her for a moment until Nanoha clarified, "wedding."

He stopped breathing. "EH?! W-well, I think when we're at the typical age… I don't see why not. But… you know? I'm not there yet so I still don't…"

Nanoha paused from fiddling the cap of her empty Pokari bottle to look at Yuuno. He was her best friend since they were nine, and – though Yuuno refuses to take the credit – her magic teacher up until now. No one else relishes this sight more than Nanoha, especially now that Chrono is going to be too busy to nettle Yuuno too.

The silence continued as Nanoha tossed the bottle to the nearby trash bin. The bottle clattered inside. Both Yuuno and Nanoha nodded upon the satisfactory display of her mid-range shooting. They looked at each other, and then laughed simultaneously at their synced thoughts.

After a moment, Nanoha stretched her hands towards the hidden sun. "I guess I'll be reaching for what I see first since I just graduated Middle School. Now that I'm a full-time instructor, too, I can't see myself on that dress yet."

The blonde hummed in response. He stared at Amy and Chrono who were now almost done with the prenuptial photographs. For a moment, Nanoha found a tinge of yearning in Yuuno's clear emerald eyes; one that reminds her of how long they have been friends. For some reason, that sparkle in his stare brings back some vague memories of the past, resurrecting feelings that make her heart flutter.

With her characteristic giggle, Nanoha scooted nearer him and nudged the moony boy by his arm.

"Aren't you thinking, 'must be nice'?"

"W-what?!" Yuuno's cheeks flushed furiously at the question. Nanoha simpered. "No! I mean– yeah! But it's not like what you suspect!" He gibbered, earning the promised doubtful look in Nanoha's dawn-blue eyes.

"What, what? Does Yuuno-kun imagine himself with someone in particular?" She asked, her eyes glinting like the one true successor of Chrono Harlaown-style antics.

"That's not it!" Yuuno all but stood up, his face in a blaze with annoyance and embarrassment. Of course he lies, from time to time.

"Hmm... What about a girl friend material?" Nanoha pried further.

"T-that's-!" Yuuno looked away, looking anywhere as if searching for an escape from this world. "I-I just think it's amazing and all." He began again, though his voice was pitched and gruff. But Nanoha seemed to buy that so he was able to relax a little bit. "They were the complete opposite but they were always each other's complementary pole, right? I just think they're really amazing to have found each other through destiny and effort." Yuuno explained.

Nanoha contemplatively returned to the couple. "I guess I've got a long way from getting a marriage like this, then."

Yuuno looked at Nanoha sidelong. The fair breeze made her side ponytail fall from her shoulder. Her bangs' shadows danced on her cheeks, her fringe sliding away from the clasp of her ears. It made Yuuno hurt with the urge to brush it back in place, clear Nanoha's face so he sees just how ephemeral her expression was. But that would be Yuuno at his wit's end. This moment melts him more than enough. Seek further steps in his mind, and the scariest thoughts consumed him. He looked away, cheeks burning with the setting daylight, and said, "that's… not quite true, Nanoha. I get the feeling you'll be with the one that perfects your world in its own ways. It's you, that's why. If it's Nanoha we're talking about, I'm sure."

Nanoha looked at him with a smile. Yuuno failed to face her head-on and settled his eyes on an unusual pebble resting by his foot. He wondered timidly, ever so curious yet still endlessly unenlightened and ignorant of what kind of smile – among her gamut of brightest expressions – Nanoha wears right now.

"Thanks." Nanoha said in a sweet low whisper. "Hearing you say that really feels like it's guaranteed."

Yuuno smiled for himself, feeling an inexplicable feeling... A sense of victory, a step forward in the competition.

Soon as it passed by his superficial thoughts, he marvelled…

A... competition?

…

It was already dark when the duo decided to come down from the hill. After the photo shoot, they stayed there for a while, chatting with no reins, exchanging subjects from each other's field of work, bringing up stressful ideas and smothering them one at a time with their combined witty power of an instructor and a professor. It was a great puzzle to anyone how they make a good combination despite their different areas of work. But one has to think that words make a powerful tool of connection especially if both wielders use them for connection's sake. At some point, others just believe it's because they're both nerds.

Either way, nothing changes the fact that Nanoha and Yuuno has a strange connection that surpasses any level of friendship. It's almost akin to family in itself. At least one of them believes so, anyway.

As they walked, the street lamps down the hill lit up one by one, as though the forest spirits were leading them safely from a short journey to a different world. Nanoha and Yuuno was side by side, both aware that their time together is starting to fade away.

"You really didn't have to walk me back to the portal." Yuuno said as he fixed his glasses, happiness and abashment conflicting with his basic outlook of friendly politeness. It's not like this was the first time Nanoha insisted on doing many favors for Yuuno after all. Yuuno was just overcome by their bonding most of the afternoon, and thought that too much bliss has to be enough.

Nanoha walked beside him, her hands swinging on her sides in joyful arcs. "But I wanted to see you off. It's rare to actually hang out with you nowadays anyway."

Yuuno smiled at himself. "Yeah. Though we just finished a mission together, it's really nice to get together like this after so long."

"Tehe~ I know right?" Nanoha answered with pride.

Yuuno laughed softly as he turned his attention to the thin forest below. Lights had formed dancing silhouettes of the treetops, evidence of the bonfire at the seaside party.

"It's a pity." Nanoha said softly. Yuuno looked back at her as she continued, "you should have just filed for a leave. One night wouldn't hurt."

"Ahh... But it's really going to be a mess there tomorrow." Yuuno commented under a sigh, remembering many a times when he had to be the only level-headed one to bring revelries in moderation. "Call me weird but I'm partly glad that I won't get to witness that."

Nanoha cringed. "You're saying that? What an old geezer."

Yuuno growled. "Yes, yes. And you're the lithe kid who gets to enjoy it. Ah, man, this reminds me: besides Chrono and you, I know for sure that Arisa-san is going to kill me for ditching the party when I already can't stay."

Laughing, Nanoha patted on his arm. "I'll back you up. Leave it to me."

"Thank you."

The seaside camping was actually hosted by their friends here on Earth, spearheaded, of course, by multimillionaire duo Arisa and Suzuka. It was meant for the celebration of Amy and Chrono's engagement plus the late graduation party since everyone left too soon to have a worthy blast. Everyone was invited, some even forced by Arisa's reasoning tactics. But unfortunately, Yuuno was tasked to an excavation and had to bail before night ages.

Nanoha sighed in evident disappointment. "Well, now that you're back being an on-site archeologist aside from being the Head Librarian, I guess we'll only have to hang out whenever possible at best. I'll really miss this, you know?"

Yuuno's heart left earth to experience the weight of being in the rainbows. It was more than enough words to man up and say something here. It should be. For the duration of his friendship with Nanoha, he had always had this thought—no, a conclusion: Nanoha is more special to him than a childhood friend and a magic teacher.

He had undoubtedly grown to care for this girl so much. It was only just a seed of admiration from the time he witnessed her strength, driven by her own dedication to help someone in need (for an alien existence no less). And slowly, the sprout of a new connection called friendship nurtured this feeling. Her presence had been imbued in his very life in every little moment they shared: from when she still wore her bouncy twin-tails, a girl in search for a path to her future, a funny-man to her friends, a detached warmth from her family, to a fine lady in a side ponytail, admired by all, envied by plenty, and still smiles at the world with more regards to the future she can help create than frown at the dark shattered fragments of her incapacities in the past.

Yuuno had been only mesmerized, speechless and unendingly envious of those who can speak their hearts. He kept himself in the background, waiting endlessly for a time when he could finally present her a tiny piece of his gratitude and ever growing fondness. For every time he tried, Nanoha was always one step ahead and always being the one who had something – everything – to offer. Just like that time when she gave him her full trust; or that time when she gave up daily life for his cause; the time when she made their journey her own to lend him strength and acquire it to offer for others; or simply when he received his memento hair tie that accompanied him whenever, wherever. There was none a moment that it failed to remind him of Nanoha's impact in his life.

Even now, he wishes to give something in return; something that would make his presence in her life special too. Perhaps, for instance, that one thing he tucks in his pocket whenever he knew he could be alone with Nanoha. That one thing that went through thorough revision to attain perfect detail. That one thing which he still refuses (or forgets) to give until today.

"…It's makes me sad though." Nanoha continued, her voice thin like the air that blew past, cutting through that little space between them.

Yuuno knows he'd be very sad too. But instead of telling that, he swallows them back and spits out, "we'll find time to spend, for sure."

Why?

Why wouldn't he ever tell her how he really feels? Because of work? Because of their synchronized life struggles? Their parallel passion to live for others first?

—Perhaps.

But however responsible they may be, they're teens shouldering big responsibilities. Still childish they are as they need affection. And to Yuuno, as a tribe boy meant to live up to big expectations, the closest thing to that – that most beautiful feeling of affection – was that belongingness whenever he could be honest with Nanoha. There could be no one else in the entire universe like being close to the reckless girl who doesn't mind damage as long as she gains twice as much as lost. There could be no one but Nanoha…

But all this time, he'd been hiding something big. All this time, he'd been beating the purpose of his honesty. Perhaps, it's time to return one gift; pick that flower that blossomed in his heart and offer it to the most beautiful girl in his eyes.

He stopped on his tracks.

"Nanoha…" Yuuno whispered, his voice chasing after the fleeting wind.

Nanoha stopped and turned to face him. "Yuuno-…kun? Sorry. I didn't mean to be glum out of the blue."

With a deep breath, he reached behind his pocket, the edge of his letter brushing past his fingers. The touch seemed to send sparks in his back. "I…"

Nanoha blinked at him.

He stared at her, memorizing how the lamp cast shadows of her eyelashes on her cheeks. His lips trembled, knees suddenly numb.

"Yuuno-kun?"

He smiled at her, returned his hand on his side.

Nothing has to change between them, right? Too much bliss is enough, right? Being friends, being close like family, being together like this... it doesn't have to change, right.

"No, it's nothing. Let's go." —he almost said.

That was at least what he planned.

But his hand remained there behind his back. Yuuno took a deep breath and sighed to calm his senses, only to make his heart rate faster. "Nanoha… I actually…" He paused and frisked for his pants' back pocket.

Nanoha stared at his somber expression. His face was showered by the light of the lamp. She saw there the transformation of that sweet and smart ferret to a caring young teacher-boy, and into a gentleman here with long flaxen hair, glasses that never betrayed his wits behind his slightly lanky build, and features betokening a handsome man that would one day be that epitome of a happy forever after.

It must be nice, she thought, if Yuuno were to have that happily forever after in the future. It definitely will be.

As she stared at him with a consuming calmness in her heart and a contented smile on her face, Yuuno produced a piece of folded paper from his jeans' pocket. Nanoha stared at it at first.

"What is this?" She asked, her hand tentatively reaching over.

Yuuno withdrew a few inches, making Nanoha raise her brows in question. All blood in his system instantly boiled, reddening his face without a spot to miss. "Uhm… A t-thanksgiving letter…" He said, his eyes mingling everything he sees in Nanoha's background.

Nanoha studied the paper first, noting how neat the folding and the handwriting of her name were. Slowly, with measures of absolute care, Nanoha took it. "May I read it now?"

"NO!" Yuuno instantly responded. Nanoha drew back in surprise. "Ah. Y-you can read it later." He amended, fearing that she was hurt by his response.

"But then you'd be gone!" She argued.

"That's the point! Gee!" Yuuno spat back.

"Why?!"

"Don't ask, please…" He begged. "I'm not really a man of confrontations. I can't stand honest words!"

"I beg to differ." Nanoha countered. "You are a man of clear, honest words. Look," Nanoha spread her arms sidewards as if to present herself as evidence. It didn't do Yuuno's already blurry – atop of his poor – sight any good, but Nanoha continued anyway, "you made friends with me and taught me magic through confrontation and words."

"That's mostly Raising Heart though." Yuuno mumbled under his breath.

"Besides, we're still getting along well because you can tell me everything. You're more than easy to understand. Your words have no hint of complex ideas!" She went on.

"That's… a compliment, right?"

Nanoha nodded. "It proves you're so bright that you can put hard thoughts to easy words." Yuuno digested her compliment first then opened his mouth to respond. But Nanoha didn't let him talk. Indignantly, she said, "anyway, how am I supposed to respond to whatever is written in here? You're about to go on a long trip, you realize? It makes easier for communication if only you're not so far in some kind of frontier non-administered world."

Yuuno shrank in remorse. He does have that job. He loves it so. But today, he abjured: it was an annoying job. Now, he realized a solid reason why he never brought that letter up. It wouldn't even account as a long-distance relationship. It makes him think that there might be other reasons he never considered confessing. But it makes him think furthermore how he should take that letter back. However, Nanoha was already peeling that small sticker that tacked the whole page in a small square. As instantly as he saw it, he turned away and stormed past Nanoha.

"I'm going!"

"What?! Wait up!" Nanoha did her best to peel her interest from the letter and catch up to Yuuno.

Yuuno wasn't listening. In the first place, he was only able to hand that letter over thinking that he didn't have to know her response. His mind was set on stone. If this day shall pass, he must see it alive.

Nanoha will reject him. She will have to. She's kind and considerate and she wouldn't implore to Yuuno for his already hectic work. Besides, she values her dreams too.

Mnh! That's right.

His researcher mode was suddenly turned on.

That's right. I will just have to work hard, secure life savings, and ask her out again. This time, I won't be going far. i will quit archeology and settle down in the city. This time, I will be with her forever. I will take good care of her, never to leave her side and I-

Abruptly, Yuuno's thoughts halted when he suddenly couldn't move. When he looked back, Nanoha had grabbed Yuuno's elbow. "You're not leaving until I read the contents."

Yuuno's spine tingled at how Nanoha made it sound like an order for her obstinate students. His face pale, knees trembling, Yuuno rigidly turned around.

"Make a blunder and you're on your way to creating a new shortcut downhill." Nanoha warned; her eyes murderous as she pointed to the creepy forest beyond the railings of the steep hillside.

Yuuno nodded and made a cracked, "yes."

Nanoha stared enthusiastically on the letter. "Here we go."

"You don't have to sound so excited about it…" Yuuno melted on the ground and closed his eyes. The soft rustle of the paper as they were unfolded sounded to him like the ticking clock towards his damnation. Yuuno buried his face on his knees. His hands were sweaty as he clamped them together behind his head. Every second of silence right after was torture in itself. It felt like forever – enough time for him to slowly think of his fears. What would he do if Nanoha finds it bad? What if she feels awkward about it?

Forget rejection. If Nanoha thinks that he's throwing away almost seven years of friendship... What if he'd never see her smile for him again? Or what if she will always smile at him again, not because she was still happy seeing him, but just pitying him for a rejection that would be his forever curse?

Gods, lift my conviction…

It would be nice if Nanoha felt the same way. It would be nice if she'd seen him more than just a childhood friend and a magic teacher. It would be nice if he were as special to her as she was to him. In that case, it would be nice if he were to open his eyes and find Nanoha there, honest and not just sympathetic; but loving him back. Loving him back.

The time that stopped for Yuuno finally moved again. He slowly opened his eyes to the darkness of his knees. Slowly, he traced his sight forward, brought his hands on his lap. He knew that Nanoha was still there. She was there… crouched before him. Her feet, her knees… And that's as far as his courage could take him. He couldn't look up to her face.

"Yuuno-kun…" Until Nanoha spoke, magnetizing his eyes to her. Yuuno saw the stir of her heavenly night ocean orbs. Before he could realize what those sparkles were for, Nanoha threw her arms around Yuuno, pulling him over to her. It made Yuuno's knees surrender to the ground. His glasses were pushed askew, tugging his vision in halation and disarray.

The smell of Sakura blossoms mixed with the aroma of Nanoha's shampoo tickled his nose. That was the only sensation he mulled before it emptied his thoughts. And what refilled that hallow is the pain far beyond physical from the tenderness of Nanoha's tightening embrace. It was a surreal kind of emotion not found in any nightmare or any dream.

It's the scariest: to be in the precipice before a truth, while truth could either be the cliff or the beclouded road to safety.

"Yuuno-kun," Nanoha sighed against his broad shoulders where her hot breath spread.

Her next words muted Yuuno with that high and unwavering tone in his ears.

"I'm sorry." Nanoha had said.

As he stared into space, counting the seconds in the form of his loud, allegro heartbeats, Yuuno's soul fell. Down he went into the endless colorless void. It seemed like so long before he finally blinked. A wind had brushed past them… And he shattered against the ground of truth.

That's when he realized his cheeks had been burning. Not with his grief, not with the monsters that eat his senses, but with human tears that flowed like the river of cruel chance and choices.

"I didn't – No… I did figure." Nanoha continued, her voice nearly breaking. "I figured out before. I knew and yet… I'm so, so sorry…"

Yuuno breathed in and sighed with a tremble. "…o-oh…"

Nanoha went on and on, her words trying to free him from even the tiniest portion of his silent angst. She was so close to him. Her words were right next to his ears. But for the first time in their lives, everything she says was so far, far, far away. While before he almost never missed a word Nanoha tells him, even always all-ears for ever blab, at this very moment, he thrived to push them away.

He should have considered this coming. The keen, observant researcher he is.

And he did deliberate this outcome, actually. He thought of losing and he doesn't have any reckless way out of it. That's why he was so afraid.

His mind was numb to be thinking of what to do. Apparently, pain is a sensation to be felt while it hurts.

At a point, Nanoha pulled away just so she could look him in the eye, know that Yuuno's tears were her fault, and etch in mind how her words break his heart. It was just like her, Yuuno thought. She heads straight to the point and answers with all clarity and power, with all truths and unbiased honesty. Even if it made her devil, she'd let out her true feelings; straightforwardly, considerately and earnestly, sending all of her reassessed yet undecorated and unaltered feelings.

Yuuno recalled the first time when Nanoha was so purely driven with those kinds of reasons; when she battled with those emotions and for those emotions. When she met that mage that strongly moved her to do so. She fought gallantly with her aims unbound to any hint of obligation like she did when he asked him for the power she had. However, unlike she did when she refused to let him be, she persisted with her struggle without any bit of courtesy out of any acquaintanceship.

It was also the first time he looked up to her and he thought… must be nice.

It was the first time he saw Nanoha fight while so overwhelmed by passion. She magnificently drew her spear, her determination so steel. She rode the breeze, leaving traces of her vibrant confidence. She was like writing her words with every motion, filling up the whole sky with her thoughts to reach out to that one goal, that one person…–

…Ah. That's it… huh?

It was the first time that his journey became personally hers too. Even if she was doing it for someone who's not (yet) a friend.

–that one moment he first thought, it must be nice if someone were to fight for me like that too.

Out from the blue of his thought, Yuuno had realized where he had planted seeds of his emotions.

Was it so wrong? Even if it was to envy that he sowed his admiration to blossom with this kind of love? Was it wrong that this girl just caught him off guard?

—Perhaps not.

Yet still, he couldn't shake off that feeling that it was neither right. If then, this was probably how it is like to surrender one's soul for something plainly beautiful.

He just… loves her. That's it. And as simple as that fact, Nanoha's feelings were apparently... different. He knew that.

"Yuuno-kun." Nanoha covered his cheeks with both hands.

He knew that and still, he asks.

"…a reason…?" His lips trembled with insufficient air to produce words. He gulped, "is there a reason… why not?"

That's right. He could just try again if it's because they both love their work so much. He could just surrender at a later time for this beautiful thing.

Nanoha wiped his tears with her thumbs. Her own tears spilled too, marred her red cheeks, crossed her feminine jaw, and dripped down to the red brick walk, etching this moment of reality to the earth.

Then she said, "…I don't want us to be that way."

And the crash of truths clashed further. The try later... gone like a bubble in the air.

Ah, the throes of something beautiful... it last a second. This time, it was literal.

"You're my special best friend." Nanoha continued. "You're the reason why I'm bound with magic. You were the one who gave me something to aim for. I don't want anything more. It's neither going to ever be less."

Yuuno stared at her for long, trying to search her eyes for any doubt. If that was true, why are you crying? He ached to question. But her sure gaze, her true words were like shackles and spears made of fire and ice. He couldn't utter one word as he was forged, welded, drowned, until he's back in that hardened shell of steel, relishing silence and neutrality.

Why did he bring that out? Why did he have to hurt like this? If only he never…

"It made me happy." Nanoha brought him back to the here and now before regret consumes him.

What was it called? Tears of endless joy… For a reason, Yuuno couldn't accept it. And for that same reason, for his muddled feelings, for his genuine emotions that were popped one by one like bubbles, by this girl who still conveys happiness while doing it, he felt really, really frustrated.

Yuuno raised his sweaty hand to brush his hair stuck on his forehead and remove his foggy glasses. "How? I stepped out of the line." He argued as he slumped down on his backside. He hung his head forward, hiding himself in the shade of his bangs. "I bruised our relationship with that… that letter."

"That's not true. It really made me-"

"Don't make it harder by implanting false hope any more!" He almost bellowed. But his voice was weak. Nanoha drew back for a moment but her hands cupped his cheeks once again.

"I'm..." She trailed off, righting her thoughts. "I know what I said but it's not all about that, right?" Nanoha said. Yuuno looked up and saw that parchment resurrected in Nanoha's hands. All this time he had thought it had been crumpled or dropped to the ground, tossed to face oblivion. But it was there again, neat and clean, as though everything that has happened upon giving Nanoha that letter was just his held it with utmost care. She smiled with utter happiness. And Yuuno knew it was the answer he'd have imagined to be occurring much earlier. But he knew that Nanoha wasn't giving this response to mar her previous reply with any clichéd 'buts'. The very standard of candor she has.

He looked at Nanoha idly as the copper-haired ace instructor stared at the letter. "I never knew you've been trying to tell me these."

Yuuno wanted to confute and say how trying to tell her anything was anything but painful. It ruined their friendship. It ruined their close bond. It ruined their pleasant impression towards one another. And there was never going back to how they used to be; the casual stare games; the courteous skinship; the brash chitchats. That safety shell was now turned to shards to wound more.

But before he could emit a sound with his still lumped throat, Nanoha held him in the eyes and said,

"I'm grateful to know how proud you were of me, and I'm happy that it relieves you to see how I've gotten so strong." She explained in a slow, clear tone. Her tears free flowed like a rainy starry sky. "I'm glad you were looking over me even at times I don't even see myself at all." Nanoha pressed the paper against her chest. Her voice was on the edge: sharp, wavering as if they treading along thin cords. "I've always… wanted these from you… Tha…nk you… Yuuno-kun. I know to give you 'sorry' for an answer is… but–ugh! I'm sorry!"

Yuuno gasped aloud and realized that he hasn't been breathing. As Nanoha broke down in tears in front of him, he reckoned what exactly was in that letter. It had everything that his heart had been keeping, hadn't it? And scary enough, he realized that he forgot most of everything for an opportunity to be something else; to be deemed special; to relish that beautiful thing called love.

Hasn't he already been special?

He already was.

He threw away what makes most of his bond with Nanoha for something more? Isn't this more than enough?

It was most of what life could offer him: a boy who had no one else in the world but books and freedom; a mere mage who was just an ignorant relic-hunter in the adults' stead; a powerless nobody doomed by the penance of his mistakes.

It was most of what life could grant him: Nanoha. A dear friend. A bright student. An easygoing hero. A fool most of the time.

And, on top of all… Nanoha already loves him. Truly so to a point of Yuuno's chagrin. Deeply so to the extent of loathing her honest answers for his feelings.

Nanoha's cries had already subsided to soft hiccups when he finally came to his still kept staring at her with bewilderment, on top of everything else; surprise, frustration, affection...

Perhaps he took so much time before finally folding from his frustrations. Perhaps it wouldn't matter now if he tried to regain a hold of the strongest ties to pull himself out of the sea of his faltering.

Nevertheless, he steeled his feet and brought himself back on the knees. Nanoha was dragged towards his warm chest, his beating heart, his ever protective embrace.

"I'm sorry." She mewled.

This time, Yuuno answered and his words were clear, "don't be. I accept your response." He hushed her, a hand caressing her copper strands. "Nanoha. I love you."

Nanoha's hands clutched his back. "I'm... sorry..."

"I love you." Yuuno repeated, again and again. Nanoha's response was the same, a thousand time over perhaps? Neither bothered until Nanoha was calmer in his embrace and Yuuno was smiling against the auburn hair.

"Thank you." She whispered; a smile on her face, and a small wish in her heart: for this magnificent person to find someone he'd fight for through his own passion and full strength, without exception, without disgrace.

"Thank you…"

…

Yuuno let out one final heavy sigh as the bright portal lights expanded on the clearing in front of him. He turned around. Nanoha stood there, watching as he'd go.

"Alright. I'm going. Take care, Nanoha."

Different from what he expected to be a bright smile for a response, Nanoha looked at him with a mix of earnest request and apology.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Tapping her fingers together in a reserved silent request, Nanoha shook her head. "I-I'm not sure how to put it considering what we've… uhm…"

That one gesture, Yuuno knew so well.

He smiled. "Nanoha, since your awful stubbornness led to my awful rejection, I can ask for of compensation for damages, right?"

"Y-YEAH!" Nanoha replied louder than necessary, shoulders contracting in shock.

"Let's still be friends from here on." He said simply.

"Y-yeah?" Nanoha blinked twice.

"When we meet again, let's talk and share our problems if need be mentioned. And then…" He trailed off, the remaining words flowing in his thoughts.

Nanoha's eyes lit up in the familiar way again. "Yeah." She nodded and held her fist towards him. Yuuno bumped his knuckles against hers. They exchanged looks in the moment of idleness with heartfelt smiles and best regards. When he seemed satisfied again, Yuuno turned around.

As the lights underneath him glow, a mystifying thought crossed over his mind. "…Nanoha? What exactly did you mean when you said you 'figured out before'?" It could've been 'realized' or 'hinted' or 'felt' or something… He thought.

Nanoha froze and avoided his stare, looping her fingers together to stall. "Uh… i-it's… you know? Since Chrono-kun always teases you so, it's become quite… rather pandemic. And… obvious?"

Yuuno hung his jaw, his eyes wide open, and his blood filling up the volume his whole head could hold.

"WHAT?! Wait—Wuh—EHH?!"

Nanoha winked and held a finger to her lips. "It's okay, I'll never tell anyone about this."

"THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM—!"

Nanoha smiled widely and waved as the green lights slowly consumed the Head Librarian of The Infinity Library who's apparently oblivious of his patent feelings for the girl.

"Ittarasshai~! See you, Yuuno-kun!"

In a second, he vanished. The sound of his voice echoing in his wake, "CHROOOOONOOOOOO!"

…

When his sight recovered from the beam of the teleportal, Yuuno was put in an even awkward moment. He was still in that angry stance: slightly bent back, fists rocked on his sides shoulder-high. The remainder of his shout coming out of him in a blare,

"~OOOooooo…"

His voice faded as the punishing stares of the people in the ship singed him. Closing his eyes, he straightened himself, coughed, and casually stepped down from the platform. His leaded lower limbs brought him out of the portal and finally through the waiting lanes.

"Yuuno, did something happen?"

"Ghk–!" Just as he was taking another step, his foot froze mid-air.

Standing by the bench with an alarmed expression was Fate T Harlaown.

Shock.

"Fate?!" It took him another frozen second before he noticed the baggage Fate was carrying: a kid sleeping soundly in Fate's arms, red head resting on the blonde's shoulder. At all angles, it just didn't seem right to him. "–YOUR KID?!"

Double shock.

Fate blushed lightly, a nonchalant expression coating her deep claret eyes. It's frightening how she somehow perfected that face which she most likely acquired from Signum.

"I'd retort. But you should stop screaming first."

Yuuno could only gasp and clamp both hands into his mouth.

"Heeh~ so this is Erio." Yuuno stared at the genuine sleeping face of the kid in Fate's hold. After their very unexpected meeting, they found themselves a seat as Fate waited for their clearance to use the portal.

"I was kind of expecting him to be… grumpy. Like, he'd sleep on the floor than on anyone's arms? From what I heard he was difficult." Yuuno said, patting Erio lightly on the head.

Erio stirred in comfort upon Yuuno's touch. Fate held him tighter in reflex, the gesture reflecting fondness in her eyes. "He just went through so much." Fate said. "He's actually clingy to me if I do say so myself. Actually, he wouldn't stop crying so I convinced the Office to let him come with me just for tonight."

Yuuno smiled at her expressions and the tenderness in her voice. Fate was always tender, he recalled. Children, especially, bring out Fate's most caring side, but Erio seems to be even more exceptional. Fate gives off the motherly vibe with him. The same seems true with Arf too but the familiar, Yuuno's helper in the Infinity Library, feels like the reliable first-born. There had been similar times like this when she seems to be the happiest person in the world that her spectators can't help but feel lighter, Yuuno included.

"He loves you so much, huh?"

Fate blushed, her blonde brows knitting. "I won't really comment on that. But…" She paused, working on some words with a hum, "I guess it's because we share some difficulties regarding the past."

Yuuno's lips tightened. He worried that Fate was remembering an awful phase in her past, a dark corner no light can reach.

"Fate…"

But then she smiled at him, quickly refuting his assumptions. "It's a good thing. I'm glad we're alike. Just like that, we tend to lend each other the support. I do this while he reminds me of how great my work is; how worthwhile the struggles are."

Yuuno teased to lighten up the moment, "well, then I find it true about him being difficult."

Fate puffed her cheeks and knitted her brows. "I'm not that difficult!"

For some reason, Yuuno was touched by a feeling so indescribable as he talked with Fate. Up until now, his heart was tight and chained by the remnants of today's conflicts. Nanoha's rejection still lingers inside him like a burn of the afterglow. At the back of his mind, for reasons he chose not to mull over, Fate was the last person he'd like to see instantly after that. But talking to Fate about nothing in particular and witnessing how she overflowed with so much love to share, a few of his heavy shackles shattered to the ground, freeing him even just slightly.

Just what was that? A feeling he's had before…

"Oh yeah." Fate called him back from the reverie. "Did you get to have enough time with Nanoha?"

Yuuno's jaw tightened. But thanks to that mental freedom he had just now, he managed to suppress his emotions and answered clearly. "Yeah. We talked a lot. It's only been some months since we last worked together but we had a lifetime to share."

Fate chuckled under her breath. "That's great."

"Well, Arisa was kind of miffed about how I stole her from the group." Yuuno continued, hiding a blush with a stroke of a forefinger to his cheek. "But… yeah. I enjoyed her company again. I'm grateful."

"Mnh. I am, too." Fate replied, gaining a questioning stare from Yuuno. "She's been really stressed since we started living in Mid-Childa. But you know how she's reticent when I try to talk to her, right? All she makes is that face and says, 'you're always so worried, I'm fine,' so I hoped this event would do something about it." Fate softly laughed.

There it was again: the smile that purges any surrounding menace. Yuuno had lost count of the times she made such a face whenever she talked about someone she… cares for so much. Ironically, it's already a rare chance that they talk so leisurely. But the accompanying familiarity Fate exclusively brings to Yuuno is at a questionable extent. It's almost… healing.

"She got to hang out with her family, and you. I bet she's overjoyed now."

"You're not frustrated about that?" Yuuno asked.

Fate tilted her head. "What about?"

Taken aback, Yuuno had to rethink a few steps in his trail of thoughts. Whenever Nanoha complained for something, he always wished to make her smile again. Most of the time, indeed, he was glad he could lift some of her burdens. But there had been desperate times when he simply knew he can't do anything about it and those times were the worst. And when someone else filled up that space makes it more vexing. Why, though, won't the Fate not feel the same?

"I guess that's where I put up the white flag." He muttered, the small smile returning to his face.

"Eh?"

"Hmm-mm. Nothing. It's just that… There are times when I'm so disappointed of myself whenever I can't help her by my own means."

Fate nodded with a genuinely undecorated look of confusion. "That's by default, right? It's Nanoha after all. It takes a universe to convince her that something's wrong with herself."

Yuuno blinked. An unexpected response after another is exactly what this blonde seems to be about. A sudden imminence of laughter coursed through his spine, tickling the back of his ears. This caused him to bite his lips lest he should burst out and wake Erio up. However, the pressure was too much to resist. Turning away from Fate, he guffawed, expelling all air from his lungs in consecutive cackles. He even bent over his chair's arm. He knew he's garnering too much spectators again but he shoved the thought away and just let loose.

He took a very deep breath after a short while and finally recovered. He leaned back against his chair, feeling life in his nerves as though he had been asleep all this time. Before he could tell, warm tear drops fogged up his glasses as he returned to face Fate.

Fate stared at him with expected bewilderment. "What was that all about?" She hissed, a hand wrapped around Erio to cover his ears.

Yuuno let out the remaining soft chuckles in his system and wiped his glasses. "Haaah… I'm so relieved."

"What just happened?" She asked again, this time sounding concerned about her friend's state.

"I'm sorry. I forgot we were talking about Nanoha for a moment."

"Really?" Fate jolted in extreme disbelief. If anyone in the whole Dimensional curve takes all light jests seriously, Fate would take forever to learn proper poker. It's a mystery though, how in contrast, she's one of the elite among the elite enforcers of the Navy.

Returning his glasses back, Yuuno sniffled. "Yeah. She's one infinite value of information I can't keep track of."

"That might be true. But you're Yuuno. I mean, if there's anyone who can bend that beast, it's her master."

Yuuno chortled again. "How do you make everything so easily sensible? Like, really?"

Fate remained silent, unsure of how to respond.

Yuuno offered the elaboration with a wave of a hand. "Well, the gist of it is that you know her best, right? Between the two of us, you're Nanoha's one true compliment after all." Yuuno looked at her sidelong, somberness consuming his smile. "Don't stop worrying about Nanoha, Fate."

A sheer mask of evasion sparked in Fate's eyes. She took time to answer, turning her head frontward and parting her lips. "…un. T-that's only natural."

Yuuno looked away the same direction.

"…we're friends after all."

Yuuno turned his head back towards Fate, puzzling himself over the reality of Fate's words.

"Enforcer Fate Harlaown. Enforcer Fate Harlaown…" But then the voice from the speakers bought their attention. Yuuno missed to witness how the words inflicted meaning in Fate's expressions.

"That's us." Fate said as she stood up, careful enough not to wake Erio. Yuuno was sure she was intentionally running away, though. But his heart was still so vulnerable. All he wished for was that Fate's words were the plain truth. That would easily smother all of his insecurities towards her since long in the past.

Then again, he wonders…

Why was he ever insecure in the first place—

"Yuuno…" Fate turned around one last time, her face a little rosy than usual. "Thank you. And take care on your trip."

He followed suit and sighed. "Yeah… take care too."

—if not for the blatant realization that what he hadn't, Fate always had at open palms?

As he watched Fate walk towards the portal that will send her to Nanoha, he couldn't help but remember of that time. Asura. Himself before an angry Chrono. Nanoha behind him, flashing a grateful smile. Fate in her stubborn phase, in all obvious denial.

"What the heck…" He cursed with a soft chortle. New tears formed rivers on his cheeks and it didn't feel like any of them would stop soon. "…what the heck…" He gasped, his voice trembling. "Why not just... grab what's already on your hand?"

It felt so true. So true that it blinds…

It felt so right. So right that it hurts…

It was then that the ambiguous route he had been taking came to a crossroad of further possibilities; rewardingly, he found himself at a crossing of crystal-clear signs that perhaps, the world is an endless overlap of coincidences, threads of chances, and webs of destiny.

What is ought to be among the infinite possibilities?

In the end, there are only two ends in each strings of fate. And when place and timing turns out perfectly as though practiced, it must be the act of destiny that binds distant worlds – even the most distant worlds – together.

Much like the time he met Nanoha.

Much like when Nanoha met Fate.

Their threads unravel.

He sees both ends.

And then he cries.

~Ende

…

! Full Lengthy Writer's Blab About The Story In Profile !

Afterword

My self-review? Could be better.

Let me hear you agree with, complain about, correct, rebuff, love, or hate how I did. I'd appreciate any insight. From an amateur FFist...

Semper Fi!